Nov 10, 2007 7:17 pm US/Pacific
Oil Spill: Bay Fisherman Want To Delay Crab Season
SAN FRANCISCO (BCN) ―
Bay Area fishermen voted unanimously Saturday to request a delay of local Dungeness crab season from Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger due to concerns regarding the 58,000-gallons of oil spilled into the San Francisco Bay Wednesday.
About 50 crab fishermen from the San Francisco, Half Moon, and Bodega bays attended a meeting Saturday afternoon at the Crab Boat Owner's Association Hall in San Francisco to discuss the effects of the oil spill on Dungeness crab season, said Zeke Grader of the Pacific Coast Federation of Fishermen's Association.
The delay would be the first postponement of the local season because of a man-made cause, Grader said. Previous delays were caused by concerns over naturally occurring toxins in the water or by disagreements over crab price negotiations, he added.
The fishermen decided unanimously to contact the governor and the California Department of Health Services to request a delay of the season, Grader said. San Francisco Supervisor Aaron Peskin attended the meeting and agreed to contact the governor about the requested delay, according to Grader.
Oil spreading throughout the waters was spilled Wednesday when a container ship was damaged after knocking into a tower of the San Francisco-Oakland Bay Bridge and leaking fuel into bay waters for about 30 minutes, according to the U.S. Coast Guard.
Dungeness crab fishermen are concerned that crab caught and put into storage tanks would transfer oil into the tanks and either kill the crabs or make them unhealthy for consumption, Grader said.
The fishermen agreed to request the delay until the oil is cleaned up and fishermen can be sure that there will be no effects on the crabs, Grader said.
If approved by Schwarzenegger, the delay would mean no fresh local crab for Thanksgiving, said Grader.
Fishermen hope to reach the governor by Monday and receive a response within a few days, he said.
(© CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed. Bay City News contributed to this report.)
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